Media Advisory: ‘Mindset’ Author to Speak at Annual Ridley Lecture

Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of student motivation, will speak March 19 at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education on “Mindsets: Helping Students Fulfill Their Potential.”

The lecture, sponsored by the Curry School and the Ridley Scholarship Fund, will begin at 4 p.m. in Holloway Hall in Bavaro Hall, 405 Emmet St. South.

Dweck, Lewis & Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford, researches the critical role of mindsets in students’ achievement, and argues that praise for intelligence or talent can undermine motivation and learning.

Her lecture will discuss her recent book, “Mindset,” which has been widely acclaimed and translated into 20 languages. She will compare the differences between a “fixed mindset” and a “growth mindset.”

A fixed mindset is when people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits and that talent alone creates success, without effort.

On the other hand, in a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work; brains and talent are just the starting point. Dweck claims that virtually all great people have had these qualities.

This annual lecture honors the legacy of Walter Ridley, the first African-American to graduate from U.Va. with a doctorate in education from the Curry School.

A native Virginian and a respected, accomplished academic at one of Virginia's oldest public institutions of higher education (Virginia State College in Petersburg), Ridley was admitted to U.Va. three years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that ordered desegregation of public schools. Ridley became the University's first black graduate in June 1953, and the first African-American to receive a doctorate degree from a white Southern university.

Registration for the event is closed.

# # #

REPORTERS: Carol Dweck will be available in the early afternoon for interviews before the lecture. Media are invited to cover the event.

Latest Stories

In the future, most of the physical objects people use in their everyday lives will be connected to the internet and will be able to help us live more comfortably, effectively and efficiently. UVA Engineering’s new Link Lab will develop and deploy them.

UVA has had a study abroad program in Valencia, Spain, since 1993. Nearly 9,000 students have participated, perfecting their Spanish and earning UVA credit all the while. Check out this new video to see what all the excitement is about.

Student experiences at UVA come in many forms. For Ted Obi, a psychology and pre-med student, his journey took him to Ghana for a telemedicine project supported by UVA’s Center for Global Health and the Parents Fund.